aviation

Ministry Of Transportation Reveals Difficulty In Opening Flights To Regions

The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has been open about the difficulty of providing flights to several regions in Indonesia. So far, there have been many requests for flight slots from several regional governments, but it seems difficult to do. 

Secretary General of the Ministry of Transportation Antoni Arif Priadi said that one of the reasons for the difficulty of providing flights to regions is the lack of aircraft in Indonesia. Now there are only 350 aircraft ready to be used for an area as large as Indonesia. 

"Many people are asking 'sir, increase the number of flights.' We convey this to all governors, regents, and mayors, before COVID-19 the number of aircraft in Indonesia was around 800, sir, after COVID it is only around 350. So, it's not because they don't want to fly there, there are no aircraft, sir," explained Antoni at the West Java detikcom Regional Summit event, Monday (19/5/2025). detikcom Regional Summit is supported by PT Pertamina (Persero), Patimban Industrial Estate a Barito Pacific Company, and PT PLN (Persero) West Java Distribution Unit. 

So far, to overcome the many flight requests, the frequency of aircraft flights has been increased. Therefore, the phenomenon of several flights being carried out at midnight has emerged. 

"Today, what is being done is the frequency, the use of the aircraft, that is what is being increased. It can be up to 12 hours. So now if you go to the east, there are flights at 1, 2, 3 at night," said Antoni. 

Not only is the number of aircraft minimal, now there is also a problem with the provision of spare parts. Often, several aircraft spare parts that are due to be replaced cannot be obtained easily, so the aircraft cannot fly immediately. 

For example, there are spare parts for ATR aircraft propellers whose provision has to wait up to a year because the delivery has been hampered by the impact of the war between Ukraine and Russia in the past few years. 

"Moreover, when there was a war between Ukraine and Russia, the spare parts for the ATR-ATR propellers took at least a year to arrive, sir," said Antoni. 

For several island regions, the Ministry of Transportation is developing a seaplane service or amphibious seaplane. This will connect the many small islands scattered throughout Indonesia. Later, an aerodrome or public water airport will be built to become the passenger terminal. 

This project will be carried out for the first time in South Sulawesi (Sulsel) in collaboration with the South Sulawesi Provincial Government. This is a partnership program for providing non-APBN transportation that will be worked on by the Ministry of Transportation. 

"We are looking for a solution, one of which is using a seaplane. The Governor of South Sulawesi has coincidentally planned to use a seaplane for the first time because there are many small islands," said Antoni. 

Tag: Indonesia Sulawesi Transportation